Mature Grief: When a Parent Dies - Softcover

While there are no easy answers to loss and death, Mature Grief offers a compass to anyone navigating the unknown and uncharted waters of grief. Each life comes from God. It begins with God and has no end. Our parents came from God, out from the circle of eternity, bestowed with goodness, and in dying they return to God. Their circle is complete. And in between, their spirits splashed-down here briefly in a quiet eddy at the edge of the flowing river of time. Our lives began as a ripple of their lives. And their deaths may provoke a tidal wave of grief. In this thoughtful and practical book, pastor Donna Schaper guides the reader through the process of grieving the death of a parent. While acknowledging that every person's experience of grieving the death of a parent is unique, she offers helpful insight to the reality that some occasions of grief are quite simple and others, for reasons as complicated as life itself, are fraught with confusion and complexity. Especially helpful is Schaper's wise guidance for making transitions: dealing with belongings, family dynamics, birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and other important dates.

DONNA SCHAPER is pastor of the Coral Gables Congregational Church in Coral Gables, Florida. She is a regular contributor to Weavings, Homiletics, and The Other Side and is the author of several books, including Sabbath Keeping.